Turkish President Erdoğan finally congratulates Biden on election win
10 November 2020
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan congratulated President-elect Joe Biden on Tuesday for his projected victory in the 2020 election.
Why it matters: Erdoğan was one of the major leaders who had yet to congratulate Biden, in addition to Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.
- Even amid a tricky few years for U.S.-Turkey relations, Erdoğan and Trump have maintained a strong personal relationship.
- They’ve spoken regularly, and the Turkish strongman appeared to have significant influence over Trump, including on Syria policy.
What they're saying: "I reiterate our determination to work closely with the U.S. Administration in this direction in the upcoming period, and I believe that the strong cooperation and alliance between our countries will continue to contribute to world peace in the future as it has been until today," Erdoğan said in a statement.
The big picture: While most world leaders ignored Trump’s protestations and congratulated Biden shortly after his victory was declared on Saturday, so far only four Senate Republicans have acknowledged the outcome of the election.
- Governments around the world are preparing to work with Biden, yet many have stayed silent to avoid provoking Trump in the final weeks of his presidency.
Go deeper: As Trump fights the transition in D.C., the world moves on to Biden
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.